As is well known, a musician may practice and often perform using sheet music as a reference to the music score to be played. For viewing, sheet music may be placed on a music stand or lyre within easy view and reach by the musician. At proper intervals as each page is played the musician may momentarily free a hand to turn to another page to continue the score or move to a new score.
As musicians know, playing from sheet music is a necessary evil. It is always better to play from memory. Many times there is not sufficient time to rehearse and memorize a score, and so the musician must play from sheet music. Playing from sheet music during a performance can be the source of many problems and distractions.
One limitation of playing from sheet music is that the ambient lighting or illumination may be too low to quickly and reliably read the music score.
Another limitation of playing from sheet music is that the ambient lighting may be too intense and positioned such as to be partially obscured by glare and shadows. This can happen, in one example, when a musician or orchestra performs outdoors.
Another limitation for the musician in performing from sheet music outdoors is the occasional rain shower, which can result in the sheet music becoming soggy and impossible to read at all. Additionally, wind gusts can cause sheet music pages to turn on its own, or worse blow completely off the stand altogether, causing the musician to get lost and the band or orchestra to sound substandard.
Therefore, a music display device that serves the musician by electronically and conveniently replaces sheet music, displays sheet music electronically in a way that is easily visible in a wide range of lighting conditions and is immune from the problems of paper sheet music would be useful and novel.